Israel to Continue Talks with U.S. for a $75,000,000 Loan

Negotiations between Israel and the United States for a long-term American loan of $75,000,000 to consolidate a number of short term obligations will continue on a Cabinet level, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry stated today, commenting on a Washington report that the State Department had turned down such a request.

The Israeli spokesman said that the loan talks will be held simultaneously in Washington and Israel. He explained that in the past, under similar circumstances, such allocations had been made by the U.S. Government.

(In Washington, meanwhile, it was stated that the State Department had notified the Israel Government of the U.S. negative decision. A ruling was made by the Department of State, the Treasury, the Mutual Security Agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Export-Import Bank to the effect that no American agency has the authority to lend funds for the purposes Israel has in mind.)